Analysis of Angela Carter’s The
Bloody Chamber
Synopses, messages, characters, quotes,
comparisons, contexts, and interpretations of each
of the main 6 stories
, Contents
The Bloody Chamber …………………………………………………………… 2
The Erl-King …………………………………………………………… 7
The Snow Child ……………………………………………………………10
The Lady of the House of Love ……………………………………………………………13
The Werewolf ……………………………………………………………18
The Company of Wolves ……………………………………………………………21
1
, The Bloody Chamber
Synopsis
Adapted from Perrault’s fairytale Bluebeard, Carter’s titular story The Bloody Chamber
follows a young girl who has married the Marquis and travels to his castle in Brittany to be
his wife. The narrator tells the reader of the Marquis’ previous wives who have all
mysteriously fallen dead under his care. Her attitude is practical and unemotional. He gifts
her a choker necklace with a ruby which she compares to a “slit throat”. She resents the
marriage once it is complete, comparing it to “exile”. He fills their bedroom with lilies and
mirrors to represent his “harem” then sexually teases her, not yet consummating their
marriage. The girl ventures into his library, where she finds pornographic novels which the
Marquis calls his “prayerbooks” and then takes her to bed despite her soft rejections: “we’ve
not taken luncheon”, “it is broad daylight”–but they have sex and he takes her virginity, with
violent connotations of the verb “impaled”. She is “infinitely dishevelled”. The Marquis says
he must go away on a business trip, and then gives her the keys to all of the rooms in the
castle, saying that she is free to enter every single one, apart from his “enfer”. She is alone
in the castle, wondering at her “gold taps”, feeling a strange “comfort” under the
“disapproving eye” of the portraits which adorn the walls, which previously made her
uncomfortable. She decides to go against her husband’s wishes and venture into the
forbidden area of the castle. Here, she finds the titular bloody chamber in which there are
tools of “mutilation” such as an Iron Maiden and a “rack”, then discovers the dead bodies of
his other wives, too, notably the Romanian countess who is being “pierced” by “a thousand
spikes”. She seeks solace in her music room (her piano-playing is her hobby, which she
viewed as a valuable hobby for marriage) and meets the blind piano tuner, Jean-Yves. The
Marquis returns prematurely, causing the girl to try and get the blood off of the key which she
had dropped in the chamber. However, the blood does not scrub off. He is angry that she
has disobeyed him and orders her decapitation. He orders her to do a pre-death ritual of
“bathing” and dressing then leads her outside to her death. He takes his great-grandfather’s
sword and goes to cut off her head, but then a clattering noise of a horse breaks his focus,
and the girl’s mother–whom she had called before to say how desperately trapped she felt in
her marriage–rides in with her father’s “service revolver” and shoots the Marquis dead. The
girl then marries Jean-Yves and lives a quiet, philanthropic life with her mother and husband.
Carter’s message
Subverting Perrault’s traditional fairytale Bluebeard, Carter uses a feminist reworking of flat
female characters and traditionally conservative notions of sexuality.
By the mother of the girl being the saviour, using a gun against a man with a sword, Carter
simultaneously dismantles the damsel in distress trop and criticises the archaic nature of
gender stereotypes and primogeniture.
She aligns masculinity with inherent violence and misogyny, as well as objectification of
woman.
2
Bloody Chamber
Synopses, messages, characters, quotes,
comparisons, contexts, and interpretations of each
of the main 6 stories
, Contents
The Bloody Chamber …………………………………………………………… 2
The Erl-King …………………………………………………………… 7
The Snow Child ……………………………………………………………10
The Lady of the House of Love ……………………………………………………………13
The Werewolf ……………………………………………………………18
The Company of Wolves ……………………………………………………………21
1
, The Bloody Chamber
Synopsis
Adapted from Perrault’s fairytale Bluebeard, Carter’s titular story The Bloody Chamber
follows a young girl who has married the Marquis and travels to his castle in Brittany to be
his wife. The narrator tells the reader of the Marquis’ previous wives who have all
mysteriously fallen dead under his care. Her attitude is practical and unemotional. He gifts
her a choker necklace with a ruby which she compares to a “slit throat”. She resents the
marriage once it is complete, comparing it to “exile”. He fills their bedroom with lilies and
mirrors to represent his “harem” then sexually teases her, not yet consummating their
marriage. The girl ventures into his library, where she finds pornographic novels which the
Marquis calls his “prayerbooks” and then takes her to bed despite her soft rejections: “we’ve
not taken luncheon”, “it is broad daylight”–but they have sex and he takes her virginity, with
violent connotations of the verb “impaled”. She is “infinitely dishevelled”. The Marquis says
he must go away on a business trip, and then gives her the keys to all of the rooms in the
castle, saying that she is free to enter every single one, apart from his “enfer”. She is alone
in the castle, wondering at her “gold taps”, feeling a strange “comfort” under the
“disapproving eye” of the portraits which adorn the walls, which previously made her
uncomfortable. She decides to go against her husband’s wishes and venture into the
forbidden area of the castle. Here, she finds the titular bloody chamber in which there are
tools of “mutilation” such as an Iron Maiden and a “rack”, then discovers the dead bodies of
his other wives, too, notably the Romanian countess who is being “pierced” by “a thousand
spikes”. She seeks solace in her music room (her piano-playing is her hobby, which she
viewed as a valuable hobby for marriage) and meets the blind piano tuner, Jean-Yves. The
Marquis returns prematurely, causing the girl to try and get the blood off of the key which she
had dropped in the chamber. However, the blood does not scrub off. He is angry that she
has disobeyed him and orders her decapitation. He orders her to do a pre-death ritual of
“bathing” and dressing then leads her outside to her death. He takes his great-grandfather’s
sword and goes to cut off her head, but then a clattering noise of a horse breaks his focus,
and the girl’s mother–whom she had called before to say how desperately trapped she felt in
her marriage–rides in with her father’s “service revolver” and shoots the Marquis dead. The
girl then marries Jean-Yves and lives a quiet, philanthropic life with her mother and husband.
Carter’s message
Subverting Perrault’s traditional fairytale Bluebeard, Carter uses a feminist reworking of flat
female characters and traditionally conservative notions of sexuality.
By the mother of the girl being the saviour, using a gun against a man with a sword, Carter
simultaneously dismantles the damsel in distress trop and criticises the archaic nature of
gender stereotypes and primogeniture.
She aligns masculinity with inherent violence and misogyny, as well as objectification of
woman.
2
